Reports
Saturday November 17th 2007
Nottingham Girls 3 Leeds Girls 2
Delays on the M1 meant a longer-than normal journey to Nottingham but the pitches were in fantastic condition and the weather was perfect for a good game of football.
No substitutes available so everyone had to concentrate and run hard for the full game. Nottingham Girls were a good strong team who attacked at speed. They took the lead in the first half but Leeds Girls soon responded with two well taken goals from Hannah after good work from Abigail and Eleasha, playing her first game of the season. Nottingham came back to make it 2-2 at half-time as Leeds picked up a few injuries.
In the second half Grace and Melissa found themselves stretched as the game became really end-to-end. Alicia came close to scoring but the Nottingham defence held firm. At the other end Roisin kept Leeds in the game with some great saves until Nottingham scored the vital goal to give them a 3-2 victory.
Once again the game was played in great spirit and there seemed to be more supporters from Leeds than Nottingham!
Leeds City Girls vs Wolverhampton Friday October 26th 2007
After a few hours of fun at Conkers, the girls arrived through the M6 traffic chaos at Wolverhampton Casuals. A good Black Country crowd had turned up to watch the Brilliant White of Leeds against the Old Gold of Wolverhampton.
Leeds quickly established a two goal lead with two excellent finishes from Nicole and Abigail. Bailie and Melissa were having to deal with a strong Wolverhampton forward line but tackled and cleared well and Roisin guarded her goal bravely. Wolverhampton eventually got themselves on top and struck quickly with two goals to bring the scores back level at half time and not before Alicia had injured herself with some strong challenges.
In the second half, kicking down the hill, Leeds never really looked like losing the match. Hannah was very strong in midfield and attack and Becky used her speed to make good runs up front. Nicole and Grace were always dangerous running straight at the Wolverhampton defence from midfield and a few flowing moves down the left wing were great to watch. Eventually the third goal came, finished expertly again by Abigail. A few late scares but Roisin stood firm in goal and Bailie and Melissa made some crucial challenges. A win was thoroughly deserved. A great game played in very good spirit.
Leeds City Girls vs Droitwich Saturday October 27th 2007
A good night's sleep in luxury accommodation followed by a substantial breakfast and the girls were back in the minibus for the trip to Droitwich, navigating through Spaghetti Junction on the way.
Droitwich girls looked big and strong, especially on a pitch that was quite small. But once the game started it was clear that Leeds were by far the best footballers. So how we managed to lose the game 3-1, nobody knows!
Abigail started with some surging runs down the wings, with Nicole doing the same on the other wing. Hannah was alert up front and stuck a close range shot in to make it 1-0 to the Whites, from Abigail's cross. Alicia had a very strong game with some great challenges and excellent headers and Bailie and Melissa dealt with all the Droitwich attacks until right on half time when they managed to equalise.
Roisin looked very confident in goal but somehow Droitwich managed to squeeze a goal to take the lead. Becky made a real nuisance of herself against some giant defenders and even with a few positional changes Leeds looked the better team. Grace had one surging run past three defenders which almost led to a great equaliser but Droitwich snatched a third right at the end. With a bigger pitch and a longer game, Leeds would have definitely won this match; their tackling, passing and running was excellent throughout.
Great support and once again the match was played in excellent spirit.
Away day to St Helens "2 for the price of 1"
Following last week's tough start, the girls first away fixture was a trip to "sunny" St Helens. As St Helens had enough players for two teams, the girls played two short games against each half of the St Helens squad.
The opening game saw two evenly matched teams moving the ball quickly from end to end. St Helens had slightly more possession in the early minutes but the Leeds midfield and defence worked hard to ensure there was no real danger for the Leeds keeper. The Leeds girls soon got used to the fast artificial surface and they too began moving the ball around well.
Then on 6 minutes the breakthrough game, Roisin threw the ball out to Grace on the right, who took the ball forward and sent a cross over to Abigail in the middle of the goal area. She cleverly let the ball run across her and then hit a firm left foot shot that found its way through the keeper's legs; 1-0 Leeds!
Chances were few and far between for either side, as both sets of midfield and defences cancelled each other out.
It was the Leeds girls who managed to create best of the remaining chances, on 12 minutes Nicole collected a goal kick and quickly fired back a shot that the St Helens keeper pushed onto the post. Then on 17 minutes Abigail created the last real chance of the game when, following a good run down the left, she crossed the ball into the danger area but unfortunately it just wasn't close enough for Alicia to get a touch on it.
So with Bailie, Melissa and Kirby stoutly defending at the back and Hannah and the rest of the team challenging for everything all over the field, the Leeds girls maintained their 1-0 lead to record their first victory of the campaign.
After an interval where the St Helens squad played each other, the girls took to the field for their second game.
This saw the Leeds girls face a slightly stronger St Helens team, although once again the teams were quite well matched.
Both teams were showing some nice touches and moving the ball well but there was no real danger for either keeper despite a few corners being earned.
The first real chance fell to St Helens on 7 minutes when a long clearance from the keeper found its way to the St Helens striker who hit a long range effort on target but it was comfortably saved by Roisin.
Then on 16 minutes disaster struck, Roisin threw the ball out to the right but possession was lost to the St Helens winger, who crossed the ball into the Leeds area. The defence failed to clear it, allowing it to land at the St Helens striker's feet, who smashed it home for the opening goal.
With the teams still largely cancelling each other out, it was not looking too promising for the Leeds girls.
However 3 minutes after going a goal down, Leeds were level.
Grace intercepted a clearance, and at first it appeared that the ball had been lost but then it fell kindly for her and she made no mistake in rifling home a strong right foot shot into the corner of the net.
With only a couple of minutes left both teams pushed forward from one end to the other in search of the winner, but it was not long before the referee's whistle signalled the end of a lively encounter, and on balance a draw seemed a fair result.
Well done girls, good to get the first win "under your belt".
Leeds City Girls U11 v Chester-le-Street U11 15/09/07
Leeds started their campaign against a strong, well-organised team from Chester-le-Street.
The Leeds girls soon found out what level of football is required to play City football and the visitors took the lead with a well-taken goal. Leeds pressed forward only to be "pegged" back by the strong running Chester-le-street girls. The first third finished 3-0 to the opposition.
In the second third, Leeds coped a little better with the pace and control of the visitors and to their credit only conceded 1 goal.
The final third of the game saw Leeds start to play a more open game and they were awarded a penalty when a visiting defender handled a free kick played into the box. However, a fine save from the keeper prevented Leeds from opening their account. By now the visitors were starting to tire and gaps were opening up all over the pitch. Again Leeds were unlucky not to score after Kirby had rounded the keeper, but she could only watch as the ball agonisingly rolled past the far post.
As Leeds pressed forwards, Chester-le-Street killed off the game scoring 2 goals late on. Final score 0-6.
Despite the rather large score line there were plenty of positives to be taken from this game. Every player played her part. In goal Roisin made some very brave and outstanding saves to keep the score respectable. Bailie, Melissa and Nicole gave good performances in defence and the midfield of Abigail, Alicia and Grace never stopped running. Although starved of few chances, Hannah and Kirby worked hard up front.